Washington, DC – November 1, 2018, Historic Hotels of America® and Historic Hotels Worldwide® are pleased to announce the winners of the 2018 Awards of Excellence. Recipients were honored at a special ceremony and gala at The Broadmoor (1918) in Colorado Springs, Colorado on Thursday, November 1. Awards were presented before an audience of more than 200 industry leaders, owners, senior management, and representatives of the finest historic hotels from across America and from around the world. Honors were given in multiple categories ranging from Hotelier of the Year and Hotel Historian of the Year to Best Historic Resort, Historic Hotelier of the Year, Lifetime Achievement, and others.

Each year, these Historic Hotels Awards of Excellence honor, encourage, and recognize the most exemplary historic hotels, hoteliers, and leadership practices. The Historic Hotels Awards of Excellence are presented to historic hotels and hoteliers demonstrating innovative leadership, stewardship, and contribution to furthering the recognition, preservation, and celebration of these preeminent historic hotels and their histories.

From more than 200 nominees, the following Historic Hotels of America and Historic Hotels Worldwide hotels and hoteliers were honored with these prestigious annual awards for 2018:

Historic Hotels of America New Member of the Year

The Statler (1956) Dallas, Texas

Best Social Media of a Historic Hotel

The Otesaga Hotel and Cooper Inn (1909) Cooperstown, New York

Sustainability Champion

La Fonda (1922) Santa Fe, New Mexico

Best Small Historic Inn/Hotel (Under 75 Guestrooms)

Benbow Inn (1926) Garberville, California

Best Historic Hotel (76-200 Guestrooms)

Beekman Arms and Delamater Inn (1766) Rhinebeck, New York

Best Historic Hotel (201-400 Guestrooms)

The Brown Hotel (1923) Louisville, Kentucky

Best Historic Hotel (Over 400 Guestrooms)

Hotel Captain Cook (1964) Anchorage, Alaska

Best City Center Historic Hotel

The Jefferson Hotel (1895) Richmond, Virginia

Best Historic Resort

The Hotel Hershey® (1933) Hershey, Pennsylvania

Best Historic Restaurant

Woods Restaurant at Grand Hotel (1887) Mackinac Island, Michigan

Hotel Historian of the Year

Teresa Porter at Benbow Inn (1926) Garberville, California

Ambassador of the Year (Quarter Century of Service)

Ann Alba at The Broadmoor (1918) Colorado Springs, Colorado

Best Historic Hotels Worldwide Hotel in Europe

DomusRenier Boutique Hotel (1608) Chania, Greece

Best Historic Hotels Worldwide Hotel in Asia/Pacific

Sofitel Legend Metropole Hanoi (1901) Hanoi, Vietnam

Best Historic Hotels Worldwide Hotel in the Americas

The Omni King Edward Hotel (1903) Toronto, Canada

2018 Historian of the Year

Luke Barr

Celebrated New York Times bestselling author of Ritz & Escoffier: The Hotelier, the Chef & the Rise of the Leisure Class; and Provence, 1970: M.F.K. Fisher, Julia Child, James Beard, and the Reinvention of American Taste

“Congratulations to the recipients of the 2018 Historic Hotels Awards of Excellence. These 2018 winners represent more than 400 years of history and include the finest legendary and iconic historic hotels from across the United States of America and from around the world,” said Lawrence Horwitz, Executive Director, Historic Hotels of America and Historic Hotels Worldwide. “We are delighted to recognize these magnificent historic hotels and their historic hoteliers for their dedication, passion, stewardship, and leadership in preserving these treasures and their stories for future generations of travelers.”

Award recipients are selected from nominees received from historic hotels, historic preservation supporters, prior award recipients, and leadership from Historic Hotels of America and Historic Hotels Worldwide. As official programs of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, Historic Hotels of America and Historic Hotels Worldwide provide the recognition to travelers, civic leaders, and the global cultural, heritage, and historic travel market that member hotels are among the finest historic hotels across America and around the world. The Historic Hotels Annual Awards of Excellence program recognizes the pinnacle of this distinct group of nominees in a range of categories.